Kebabs & Falafel

Chicken & Rosemary kebabs

Ingredients
For the Quinoa salad

  • 2 x cups of either red or white Quinoa (most supermarkets stock this as well as all health food shops)
  • 1 x bunch of spring onion
  • 2 x handful of Rocket or Spinach leaves
  • 1 x cupful of frozen peas
  • 1 x cupful of chopped tomato
  • 2 x tablespoons of olive oil mixed with 6 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar mixed with a generous helping of black cracked pepper and sea salt

For the chicken kebabs

  • 1 x chicken breast ( you can also use any meat or seafood as a substitute)
  • 1 x red capsicum
  • 10 x cherry tomatoes
  • 1 x red onion
  • Dried rosemary, sea salt and pepper as seasoning

Instructions
Using BBQ skewers or kebab sticks thread the chicken breast, red capsicum, red onion and cherry tomato on the skewers and sprinkle with the dried rosemary, salt and pepper.  Then add to the oven on a medium heat or grill.
Then cook the Quinoa as you would rice – it takes approximately 15 minutes. Add in the frozen peas in for the last 5 minutes cooking time.  Then in a bowl chop up all the other ingredients and mix together with the olive oil and balsamic dressing on.  When the Quinoa and peas are cooked add them to the bowl and add more balsamic vinegar and seasoning to taste if you need to.  Then add place the cooked kebabs on top and serve!
Calories per serve – 490
 

Baked Falafels with Tahini (serves 2)
  • 1 x can chickpeas
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp corriander
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1/2 brown onion, grated
  • 1/4 cup plain flour
  • 1/4 cup fresh corriander leaves (optional)

Place chickpeas, onion, garlic, fresh corriander and ground corriander and cumin in a food processor and process until combined. Add bicarb and flour and pulse until combine.
Shape mixture into balls and place on baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake at 200C for around 25 minutes (turn them every now and then).
Serve with a salad of chopped cucumber, shallots and tomatoes. Make a dressing by combining 1/2 cup natural yoghurt, 1 tbs tahini and 2 tsp lemon juice. Serve as a salad or with warmed wholemeal pita bread
Calories per serve – 180

Prawn Kebabs

For the marinade mix up 4 crushed cloves of garlic, a juice of one lime, 2 tablespoons of crushed or freshly grated ginger, 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar, 1 crushed or finely chopped red chilli and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper – mix together really well.
Then add your prawns onto the skewers (alternating the prawns with fresh veggies of your choice such as baby tomatos, red onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms or eggplant) and coat with the marinade  – leave for a couple of hours then pop onto the BBQ for approximately 8 minutes.
Serve with a spinach and mango salad and dilute the marinade with some more cider vinegar and olive oil to use as a dressing
Calories per serve – 155

Lamb and haloumi skewers

Ingredients

  • Lean cuts of lamb
  • A pack of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 red capsicum
  • 2 slices of haloumi cut into wedges
  • Half a grated lemon grind
  • Half a lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp of oregano (dried or fresh)

For a low fat dip

  • Low fat greek yoghurt
  • 1 finely chopped up cucumber
  • 1 clove of crushed garlic
  • 1/4 of a cup of finely chopped mint

For the marinade, mix the lemon grind, the lemon juice and the oregano together and mix the lamb through it. Then thread the lamb onto some kebab skewers with the tomato, haloumi, onion and capsicum and BBQ lightly until cooked. To make the tzatziki dip mix the yoghurt, mint, garlic and cucumber then serve in a bowl.
Serve with a large salad and wholemeal pitta bread.
Calories per serve – 277

 

Moroccoan Chicken & Apricot Skewers
  • 1 pack of lean chicken cut into quarters
  • 10 dried apricots
  • 1 red onion – cut into pieces

For the marianade

  • 1 tbsp of corriander seeds
  • 1 tbs of cardamom seeds
  • 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
  • Half a knob of grated ginger
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 green chilli

Mix all the marinade ingredients together then mix all over the chicken. If possible leave to sink in to the chicken pieces for a couple of hours. Then thread the chicken onto skewers with pieces of red onion and dried apricot. Grill of BBQ and serve with a salad or pitta bread
Calories per serve – 198

Chicken Satay Kebabs

Ingredients:

  • 450g skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 tsp. minced ginger root
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic clove

For the sauce:

  • 2 tbsp. smooth peanut butter (use natural)
  • 2 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1/2 tbsp. honey
  • 1 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic clove

Method of Preparation:

  1. Pre-soak eight wooden bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes.
  2. Cut the chicken breasts into eight strips or 16 chunks.
  3. Put the chicken into a bag with 2 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tbsp. lime juice, 1 tsp. ginger and 1 tsp. garlic. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour in the fridge.
  4. Thread the chicken onto the eight skewers. Spray a grill pan with cooking spray and cook for ten minutes, turning once.
  5. To make the sauce, mix the peanut butter, lime juice, honey, soy sauce and minced garlic. Heat over a low heat and add a little water to thin the sauce.
  6. Once the chicken is cooked, serve two chicken skewers per person with 1tbsp of the sauce dribbled over

The Cous Cous Salad

  • 1 x cup of cous cous
  • 1 bag of spinach
  • 1 large bowl of iceberg lettce
  • 1/2 chopped cucumber
  • 1/2 bunch of spring onion
  • 1 x chopped yellow or red capsicum
  • 1 x cup of cherry tomatoes
  • 5 x tbps Balsamic vinegar
  • 2 x tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 x handful fresh mint
  • Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Pour 2 x cups of boiling water over the cous cous and cover. Leave for 5 minutes for the cous cous to absorb the water. Fluff with a fork
In a large salad bowl add all the salad ingredients then add the cooked cous cous and dress with the vinegar, salt and pepper – add more vinegar if needed
Serve with 1 serve of vegetables too – we used corn on the cob